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GREENS WARY OVER CHAIRWOMAN LANDRIEU: Environmental groups are shuddering at the prospect of Sen. Mary Landrieu ascending to the top of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. When it comes to energy and environmental issues, the Louisiana Democrat is more closely aligned with the oil industry than the tree huggers.

She has used her senior position on the committee to fight to funnel more revenue from offshore drilling to her state and to ensure drilling permits get processed quickly. And if she takes over the chairmanship of the panel from Sen. Ron Wyden, green groups worry she’s likely to push that agenda even further. “It’s just hard to be optimistic about the direction of the committee if it goes from Wyden to Landrieu,” one official at a major environmental group said. “That would be the big fear for us is that that committee would be very, very narrowly focused just on oil and gas.” Andrew Restuccia and Darren Goode have the story: http://politico.pro/1cfmYeW

Pullquote: Former Democratic Sen. Bennett Johnston, the last Louisianan to chair the panel, ending in 1995, described Landrieu's early ascension to the panel’s chair as “a real blockbuster,” adding, “I’m just amazed.” “People in Louisiana understand where the bread is buttered,” he said. “This is a big, huge loaf of bread with a big slice of butter just melting on top.”

Programming note: Morning Energy will publish on Monday, and then will return to your inbox on Thursday, Jan. 2.

THEY LIKE HER, THEY REALLY LIKE HER: As has been long rumored, the White House has formally nominated Janet McCabe as EPA’s new air chief. McCabe has been in that role as an acting administrator since Gina McCarthy was confirmed as EPA administrator. While McCabe’s confirmation will surely entail a battle over EPA regulations — particularly the greenhouse gas emissions rules her office is writing — she is facing a much easier path to confirmation now that the Senate rules have changed to block a filibuster on her nomination. McCabe has been with EPA since 2009; before that, she was ran an Indiana nonprofit on children's environmental health, was a professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health, and worked in the Department of Environmental Management.

Approach the bench: The White House has also picked a new top prosecutor for the energy environment beat, nominating Environmental Law Institute President John Cruden, a well-known name in environmental laws circles, to be assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. Cruden has previously been a deputy assistant attorney general, and from 1991 to 1995 headed up the ENRD's Environmental Enforcement Section. Before that, he was chief legislative counsel to the Army.

But wait, there’s more: The White House has also appoint Eric Dannenmaier and Robert Varney to the Joint Public Advisory Committee of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, the joint organization set up by the U.S., Canada and Mexico to establish the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. Varney, who is now at Normandeau Associates, was EPA Region 1 administrator from 2001 to 2009. Dannenmaier is a law professor at Indiana University. The positions don’t require Senate confirmation.

HARPER: LET’S WORK TOGETHER ON EMISSIONS CUTS: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to act in tandem with the U.S. on cutting carbon emissions in the energy industry. “Our government is certainly prepared to work with the United States on a regulatory regime that will bring our emissions down,” Harper said. “This would be best done if we could do this in concert with our major trading partner, given as I say it is a seamless industry in North America.” Canada wants to take action “over the next couple of years,” he added. Bloomberg: http://bloom.bg/1bUACOu

PA SUPREME COURT SAYS TOWNS CAN LIMIT GAS DRILLING: Via the Wall Street Journal: “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Thursday that municipalities can retain some control over drilling within their borders, handing a victory to local groups that brought a challenge in one of the nation's top gas-producing states. The seven municipalities that challenged a 2012 state law had argued that it violated their rights to control land and protect residents' property, and thus violated the state constitution. Now, local governments will be able to use zoning laws to restrict drilling in some areas.” WSJ: http://on.wsj.com/J91cwq

CANADIAN PANEL BACKS ENBRIDGE PIPELINE: A Canadian panel recommended Thursday that the nation’s government approve the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project, a pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia that would offer an alternate route for Western Canada’s crude oil to get to the market. The independent Joint Review Panel for the Northern Gateway Pipeline recommended the approval, subject to the project meeting 209 special conditions. Talia Buford explains it all: http://politico.pro/1cE7L1Q. The panel report: http://bit.ly/1hp58p9

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR: Two energy nominees won’t get final votes on the Senate floor before lawmakers skip town until next year. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last night pulled his cloture motions on a handful of nominees, including those for Michael Connor to be deputy Interior secretary and Richard Engler to join the Chemical Safety Board. The Senate will have to consider them when it reconvenes in the New Year.

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FRIDAY NIGHT BYTES: If want to add your name to the hundreds of people that have voiced opinions about the NRC’s draft Waste Confidence rule, you’ve got until 11:59 p.m. tonight. The agency has been taking comments on the proposed rule, which governs the agency’s safety guidance on the long-term storage of nuclear waste at reactor sites, and a related generic environmental impact statement since mid-September. The NRC’s partial closure during October’s 16-day federal government shutdown led the agency to extend its comment period for an additional three weeks because public meetings had to be rescheduled.

— Until the Waste Confidence issue is resolved, the agency has ceased making any final licensing (and relicensing) decisions. Regulators are hoping to unveil a new final rule in September 2014. The case that got the NRC’s rules vacated last year rests on a handful of factors, including the environmental uncertainty of on-site storage in the face of Yucca Mountain’s derailment. However, there’s still a good chance the new rule and EIS won’t protect the agency from another legal challenge from the four Northeast states and environmentalists that successfully got the previous set of Waste Confidence rules scrapped. The docket: http://1.usa.gov/1fJF9Z7

NEW YORK GREEN BANK GETS $210 MILLION STARTUP FUNDS: New York's new "Green Bank" will have $210 million in initial funding, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday. The bank, which Cuomo aims to ultimately get $1 billion in backing, is now slated to open for business next year, when it will offer financing for clean energy deployment and other projects. Besides promoting clean energy and new grid projects, Cuomo said, the bank will “promote job growth, improve air quality, and provide New Yorkers with greater choice and value for their money.”

PARDON ME: Yesterday’s list of presidential pardons included one for an environmental crime — conspiracy to violate the Clean Water Act. Ronald E. Greenwood, along with another man, pleaded guilty in 1995 to discharging wastewater from a meat processing facility’s treatment plant into South Dakota's Big Sioux River, falsifying monitoring reports and conspiracy to hide those acts over eight years. Greenwood was sentenced to three years of probation, six months home confinement, a $1,000 fine, 100 hours of community service and $5,000 in restitution to the Big Sioux River Environmental Trust Fund.

NEW GLOBAL WARMING POLL: Via USA Today: “Most Americans say global warming is serious and want the United States to address it, but their support for government regulations has fallen in recent years, says a poll out Friday conducted for USA TODAY. Three of five say global warming is a very serious global problem, and two of three say it will hurt future generations either a lot or a great deal if nothing is done to reduce it.” http://usat.ly/19WHQBR

IN CASE YOU’RE NOT TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT TAX ISSUES: The National Biodiesel Board is again jumping into the fray of groups calling for key tax credits on the verge of expiring to get a reprieve from Congress. The NBB writes to congressional tax writers that the $1-per-gallon biodiesel tax incentive, set to run out on Dec. 31, “has proven to be an effective economic policy, stimulating production, jobs and economic activity.” The letter notes that tax reform will “take a considerable time,” and calls on an extenders package to move in the New Year. Read: http://politico.pro/1kZIxPS

— Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) says it is unlikely Fisker's new owners will end up producing vehicles in the First State. WHYY: http://bit.ly/1bfs9W1

— Deepwater Wind says it has reached the threshold to qualify for a key tax credit expiring at the end of this year for its 30-megawatt offshore wind project in Rhode Island. BusinessWeek: http://buswk.co/1dq65dL

— The League of Conservation Voters is backing Democrat Alex Sink to replace the late Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.). The Hill: http://bit.ly/1jnHldy

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